True Queen
by Kimesan
Summary: Karigan gave a sigh as she surveryed the ball. K/Z
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: yes, yes, I didn't make this world up I wouldn't have had the vision for it it is all the authors doing for writing such a good book

_Disclaimer: yes, yes, I didn't make this world up I wouldn't have had the vision for it it is all the authors doing for writing such a good book._

_Disclaimer p.s.- I am a science major so that means I have no idea how to spell and proper grammar and all those funny English terms so I can only say deal with it. I have not read the book since it came out so if I spell a name wrong or something, u may feel free to point it out and I will duly ignore it(just kidding____ I will take all reviews I can get)__. _

_Though if someone would be willing to look at the stories before I throw them up just tell me and I will send them to u._

_**1 week after the knighting ceremony**_

Karigan heaved a sigh as she surveyed the ball from the shadows. She had finally escaped all the people who wanted to congratulate her or just be seen with her. She had not wanted to come especially since she had renewed her training with drent. The training was infinitely more difficult then what she did before she had been recommend for sword master training the training of old was a piece of cake or better yet dragon droppings. She sighed she had been ambushed on her way back from training by Mara and the captain who wanted her to attend the ball as a "representative" for the green riders they had said that she was now a much better representative then they were. Karigan could not deny that they were correct she had attracted far more attention then the captain would have after all as they had said who wouldn't want to meet "sir" rider Gladheon. Despite her best attempts, she had given up trying to stop people from calling her "sir" it was a giant joke to all the riders. As she grumbled under her breath she looked out on the ball not that there was any dancing going on she easily spotted the king and lady Estora they were surrounded by people seeking to speak to them and wish them well on there impending marriage. Estora was dressed in a flowing golden dress that caused a pang of envy in Karigan she would never be able to wear a dress like that with easy she was from far more accustomed to her uniform. She looked down at her uniform that had been one battle she had won at least Mara and mapstone had wanted her to wear a dress she had put an end to that nonsense as soon as they mentioned by flat out refusing though it might have backfired on her as she shifted her shoulders trying to relieve the load. It was part of drent's training everything she wore that was for official business had, had weight added to it in some way. She had received new boots that were at least 10 pounds heavier then her old ones and her jacket had iron bars sewed on the inside thankfully there was padding or otherwise she would probably be rubbed raw with in an hour of putting it on and everything else had been similarly modified. Lost in thought Karigan suddenly became aware that something was wrong she could not say what it was but it was but she thought she distantly heard a pair of wings beating. She shuddered ever since the tombs she had had bad dreams of a black horse with stars in his eyes and of a terrible battle that had been all her fault she scanned the area trying to rind out what the source of her disturbance was. The wing beats had gotten louder they were like an undercurrent to the crowd's noise, she noticed that no one else seemed to hear them. As she was looking around a person caught her attention she couldn't say what it was but as she looked at him she knew that her disturbance was caused by this man he was not anything special he blended to the crowd seamlessly there was nothing outwardly that marked him any different that anyone else there she was prepared to write it off as nerves when he turned and looked at the king something in his gaze caused a wave of alarm to roll through out her body. He started to move toward the king who was on the other side of the hall and was slowly walking toward the king she was a little ways to the mans left and without thinking she started making her own way to the king she paced the man at first thinking that she was just being paranoid as people tried to speak to her and she replied distractedly and she slowly started to stop. As she did though the sense of dread increased until, her heart was beating faster then condors hoofs at full gallop. Then she saw it the man was holding a wine glass in his left hand and his right was tucked behind him in the small of his back and she caught a flash of the knife the man was holding concealed in his hand it was small barely longer then her hand but by the way he was holding it she could tell that he knew how to use it. With out a moment's hesitation she started pushing her way towards the man out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a weapon she signaled desperately as she approached the man who was almost to the king who was near the middle of the room the weapon looked, nodded, and began signaling the other weapons. She turned then and focused on getting to the man before he got to Zachary.

She realized that the man would get there their before her just barely she moved as fast she could through the crowd pushing people out of the way not caring who it was she was focused purely on getting to the king and the man. She watched in slow motion as the man reached the king she was only five steps away from them as Zachary turned to the man, the wing beats were the only thing she heard as she ran towards them every step she took seemed to take an eternity. The man flourished the hand holding the goblet and moved it towards the king she saw Zachary's eyes look away from the man and at the goblet as the man moved his right hand she screamed as the man…

_Said if u want to read what happens next it depend on the reviews I get____. I have been on this site a while and I really enjoy some of these stories. If Odin is graceful, this will be one of those stories for you._


	2. Chapter 2

_-Well here I am again I have decided to do some experimenting till I find a good spacing so you will have t deal unless someone has any hints? _

_-make sure to check out my other story and review that one as well_

_-Also, I am not sure how tall Zachary and Karigan are in comparison to each other so I made Karigan slightly shorter _

_-note for those who do not know there body parts the sternum is that hard thing above your heart._

_Previously -__The man flourished the hand holding the goblet and moved it towards the king she saw Zachary's eyes look away from the man and at the goblet as the man moved his right hand she screamed as the man…_

Started to thrust his blade at Zachary's heart, Karigan knew instantly she would only

have only one chance to get there in time she lunged desperately kicking off with her left leg

as hard as she possibly could and twisting her body to put herself between the man and

Zachary, however she had forgotten the mans arm which hit her with a glancing blow

knocking the goblet out of his hand, it was not enough to stop her desperate lunge but it

threw her off balance and instead of landing in front of the dagger with her back facing the

man, she ended up crashing into Zachary knocking him off his feet and with her facing the

blade. She desperately tried to block the mans arm but it was to late the blade which had

been meant for Zachary's heart instead struck her sternum right about her heart and was

deflected up it went through the top of her right breast and continued till it hit her collar bone

then the blade got lodged under her collar bone. Karigan screamed in agony as the blade

sliced her chest she dropped to her knees unable to remain standing her left hand pressing on

the wound "you bitch" she dimly heard a voice dripping with malice say Karigan looked up it

was the man starting down at her with fury burning in his eyes. The man quickly produced two

more daggers which he had some how smuggled in and taking them in both hands he took a

step towards Zachary, Who was still on the floor just turning around in bewilderment to see

what had knocked him down, without thinking and ignoring the fiery agony ripping through

her chest she tackled the man and grappled with him desperately to try and buy time until the

Weapons pushed there way through the crowd. Which were now panicking making the

Weapons it even more difficult but this was beyond Karigan notice for she was desperately

struggling with the man she had managed to grab his arms and keep the daggers away from

her but she was injured and the man was strong and her strength was waning. With a vicious

twist of his left hand the man broke her grip on his left hand and stabbed at her throat trying

to kill her with a desperate jerk she avoided a fatal wound instead the blade buried itself in her

left arm. Karigan refused to acknowledge the pain but she knew she was in danger for the

dagger in her arm would quickly start sapping her strength in that arm, soon the man would

be able to break her grip on his other hand and he would get another chance to kill her. All

these thoughts occurred in the spilt second the mans dagger buried itself in her arm she

quickly knew what she had to do. The mans left arm was fully extended to stab her arm and

her right arm had been flung out wide, mustering all her remaining strength she brought her

forearm down on his elbow as hard as she could the man screamed in agony as she broke his

elbow. During that instant when the man had with withdrawn his left arm, she quickly seized

her advantage and knocked the dagger out of his other hand the man shouted in rage and

agony, punched her with his good arm the blow landed right under the blade lodged under

collar bone she screamed as a shock of agony spread though out her body. Something deep

inside Karigan seemed to snap and she felt all her pain vanish and strength flood her body

and her scream of agony turned into a scream of fury the only thought that was in her mind

was that this man had tried to harm the man she loved and that he would pay. It was that

thought that lead her, ignoring all pain, to grab the mans throat in her left hand and slam her

fist into the mans face the man let out a groan, with out a thought Karigan slammed her fist

into his face again this time she continued to slam her fist into the mans face, the only

thought on her mind was to make this man suffer for even thinking about harming the man

she loved. Karigan was so intent on blood, that when a pair of hands grabbed her and

dragged her off the man that she whirled and struck the person, the man stumbled back and it

was only after the man raised his head that she realized that it was Zachary whom she had

just punched square in the face. She stared in horror at the blood that was on Zachary's face

it was not she quickly discerned from him she looked down at her fist it was covered in blood,

she glanced over at the man his face was a mass of blood and there was bone showing

through in some places she let out a gasp at seeing what she had done she quickly looked

back at Zachary the horror easily discernable in her eyes. She quickly looked away afraid that

he would condemn her, she glanced around she was surprised to see that they were

surrounded by a circle of weapons. One of whom was keeling by the man checking his pulse

he looked at Zachary and nodded his head, she felt a wave of relief through out her body she

did not know what she would have done if she had killed the man. The fire that had supported

her was ebbing "Karigan" she heard Zachary say she slowly looked at him fearing what she

would see in his eyes she meet his eyes prepared to accept his condemnation she gasped

when she saw what was in his eyes there was on condemnation just concern "Karigan are you

alright?" Zachary asked she felt a another flood of relief flood through out her body the only

outward trace she gave was a small sob that only he would have been able to hear she

nodded her head then opened her mouth to tell her she was fine when suddenly she felt a

wave of dizziness pass through her she shook her head trying to clear her head but the

dizziness just got worse "Karigan?" She heard Zachary's questioning voice she looked at him

and tried to say something but the effort was to much the action of moving her eyes had

made the room spin then blackness descended on her the last thing she saw was Zachary

lunging desperately towards her.

_I am not quite pleased with the is chapter but it is alright from this point in the story I have a couple of different direction I can go so I may be a while before I update I started a forum disc. On misc. things I will probably put up some ideas there and you can give me feed back to which one you think is best and I am coming to hate periods and these things ,_

_-I am also aware that Karigan is much more violent in my story then in the books but sometimes she seems too nice to me._


	3. Chapter 3

_I am back._

Chapter 3

Zachary could scarcely believe what had happened as he shouted for some one to get the healer. He had been

mingling among the quests when someone had approached him complimenting on the party when his attention had been

attracted to the goblet in the man's hand. He had only seen Karigan jumping for him a split second before he was

knocked to the ground, just as he was starting to get up he heard a sound that would forever remain etched in his mind.

The sound of Karigan screaming in agony, he turned bewildered to the reason why she would knock him down then

scream as if she had been stuck with a knife. He had turned to see Karigan tackling the man he had been talking to and

struggling with him for control of the two daggers he had in his hands on the ground near him, he had seen a dark stain

of blood. He had gotten up quickly his eyes glued on the struggling pair there was no way he could interfere with out

putting Karigan at risk he quickly glanced about the weapons were pushing through the crowd. His eyes were drawn

back to the pair when the man managed to break Karigan's hold on his hand and almost cut her throat but she avoided

the blade and it instead buried itself in her arm. Karigan did not even so much as blink, she quickly brought her arm down

breaking the mans elbow and using her momentary advantage to knock the other blade away. The man then punched

her aiming for the blade imbedded in her shoulder he heard Karigan shout in agony then heard it change into rage he

watched as she quickly grabbed the mans throat and began to beat him senseless.

He had quickly jumped in, knowing the man was now beat and the weapons had just arrived, drawing her back

when she whirled slamming her fist into his nose, he stumbled back not hurt as much as he was stunned by her strength.

If he hadn't rolled with the blow, he wouldhave had his nose broken easily and somewhat shocked that she would

actually strike him. He looked up as she glanced at the man then back at him horror etched into her face, she quickly

looked away staring at the weapons surrounding them then she looked at the weapon checking the man he nodded to

Zachary he saw Karigan's body shudder with relief. She wouldn't look at him he knew why she wouldn't look at him she

had truly wanted to kill the man and when he had gotten in the way trying to stop her, she struck him, he knew what

was needed. He called her name softly "Karigan are you all right?" she looked at him he allowed only his concern for her

to show she looked at him and he heard a small sob of relief pass her lips. She opened her lips to say something but

stopped shaking her head "Karigan?" he asked softly she looked at him trying to convey something but instead he say

her eyes start to roll he had quickly jumped forward catching her as she fell. He had quickly caught her and gently

lowering her to the ground and calling for the healer while he quickly assessed her wounds he saw the gash along her

chest and the blade embedded under her collarbone and the other embedded in her arm her riders' uniform was stained

with her blood.

One of the weapons approached him "your majesty we need to get you to saf-" "No, get lady Estora and the

others to safety" he said quickly dismissing him "but your majes-" "I said get lady Estora and the others to safety" he

said in a cold voice staring at the Weapon. Fastion quickly approached "it will be done your majesty" he said gesturing at

the other weapon to go and do it so he would not anger the king any more then he already had. The circle of weapons

parted suddenly and a rider came through "where is -"he started to ask when the rider Ben he now realized cut him off

"he is out in the town sir he has been summoned," he knelt down assessing the damage "besides it appears I will be

able to help her more". Zachary remembered then that Bens "ability" was healing he nodded at the rider "just continue

holding her your majesty" the rider said as he reached out and laid his hands on Karigan. Zachary watched, as the

healer seemed to focus on Karigan he could see no difference but the healer gasped and withdrew his hands as if he

had been burned "what is it?" Zachary asked feeling the tightness in his voice. The rider healer paused uncertain then

said in a low voice "sire, she has been poisoned and I have never seen anything like it, it's a miracle that she is even

alive right now". Zachary felt a flood of dread pass through him as he looked at Karigan's motionless body.

_Well how was that? I am going to school the 28__th__ hopefully I will be able to add a couple of chapters before then. this one is fairly short but i find it diffucult to type for recreation. I dont know how this format will turn out._


	4. Chapter 4

_I have not read the book since the last one came out so names may be wrong etc…_

_And for spelling errors if you point them out I will note it and do my best to correct it but if you get uppity on me then you can deal with it. I have also forgotten the healers name so I will be using destarion though I am sure that is wrong I don't have the books on hand._

"It is as Ben told you, your majesty" Destarion said somberly as he stood over Karigan's motionless body "it is a miracle that she is even alive I have never seen such a virulent poison before, the only way that is alive is that she must have had some prior exposure to it and somehow survived" Zachary looked down at her and remembered her story of the eltians and her first ride, "if we knew how she survived she survived the first time then we might be able to help her but without knowing all we can do is watch and hope" Destarion finished looking at his majesty. Zachary looked around at those in the room Destarion, Ben and Captain Mapstone she met his eyes and nodded. "The first time she was exposed to this was on her first ride and she was helped then by the eltians" Zachary said "Captain Mapstone sent your fastest rider to try to find them the guards said they left heading east through the forest" "yes sir" she said bowing then left the room.

She walked past the weapons all 8 of them she thought. She couldn't help but shake her head over the events of the night, 'first someone had tried to kill his majesty, thankfully her rider had managed to prevent that but then Zachary had put himself in danger to protect her…. If any one suspected that there was something between Zacharyand Karigan tonight would be hard to explain' she was so lost in her thoughts that she turned a corner and almost ran into Lady Estora. Seeing her Lady Estora quickly askedin a worried voice "how is she?" Mapstone looked at her ever since Lady Estora had been saved from the kidnapping she had seemed different Mapstone didn't know what had happened but Estora had started acting more thoughtful and independent, perhaps she was finally realizing what it meant to be queen? Shaking these thought form her head she looked at Lady Estora seriously and decided to tell her the truth it was time to see just how strong she was "she is in serious condition the blades were poisoned and if it had been anyone else she would be dead, right now, I am sending a rider to look for eltians since they helped her before". Lady Estora looked at her "before?" she asked, Mapstone had forgotten that Lady Estora had not been let in on the details of Karigan's first ride "Karigan was exposed to it on a previous ride and that time she was saved by the eltians" she said watching her closely " I see" Lady Estora said slowly, seeing was slightly pale Mapstone said "don't worry my lady the eltians will help, if you like perhaps Destarion will allow you to see her, now if you will excuse me I mu-" " oh yes I am sorry by all means hurry" she said as she realized she had been holding her up "lady" she said as she walked off past the two weapons.

Estora watched the Captain walk off at a brisk pace then she turned and continued on to Karigan's room as she turned the corner and finally got near her room, she was struck by how many weapons were present, she had only rarely ever seen so many weapons present as she arrived the door opened and Zachary walked out and so did master healer Destarion they looked at her and before she could say anything Zachary said "she is in serious condition" he said looking at her sympathetically " I know Captain Mapstone told me" she turned to Destarion "may I see her?" she asked "Only for a moment" he said after looking at and receiving permission from Zachary he opened the door as she walked in.

As she stepped up to the bed side she stared at her friend laying there looking pale, she could barely she her breathing, the only thing that signaled life was the slow rise and fall of the blankets covering her chest, Karigan was always so strong, she had endured so much just to save her and now this, it was unbearable seeing her laying there barely alive. Estora felt the tears rise but she suppressed them, she had to be strong like Karigan was, she stepped out into the hall Zachary looked at her for a second and nodded after a moment, then he turned to the Fastion "Your majesty, till we figured out how he got in I am going to have 4 weapons protecting you and Lady Estora at all times". Zachary nodded "very well, Fastion I want 2 weapons protecting Karigan at all times" Fastion nodded "and the only ones who are allowed entry are myself, Lady Estora, Master Destarion and rider Ben, unless I say otherwise, understood?" "Yes, your Majesty" Fastion said motioning to the two of the weapons who quickly took up positions on either side of the door. Zachary turned to her "come Lady Estora we have done all that can be done" he said, she nodded and then she left walking next to Zachary with 8 weapons trailing them. Destarion watched them walk away then motioned to, Ben who had gone to get some supplies, and then they entered the room and a battlefield for one rider's life.

Karigan's body felt like lead as she tried to sit up, her head was pounding and her body felt as if she had just got done training with drent for a whole week, and as she opened her eyes she realized that was only the beginning of her problems as she realized she was in the white world. She stood up slowly as she tried to make sense of what had happened and where she was, the last thing she remembered was …."aaaa" she gasped as the memories came flooding back and that was not all as she remembered the brawl she had been in and the wounds she had received, the pain came as if in response to her thinking about them "ugh" she moaned as she fell down to her knees and only managed to keep herself upright with one hand as the pain robbed her of her ability to stand. Karigan panted as she laid there trying to banish the pain, she had more important things to deal with like why was she in the white world? However despite her best attempts the pain did not vanish "no" she said in a weak voice, she felt the blackness creeping in and knew that she would really be in trouble if she didn't get help soon. She tried to force herself back up but her body refused to cooperate and this time she couldn't stop herself as she fell forward onto her chin "aaaaaa" she screamed as her wounds sent pulses of pain throughout her body at the jarring suddenly something stepped into her vision she stared at it, it looked like a massive cliff that sloped upwards to- "the pain is only in your mind, you must banish it, here the world is what your mind makes of it" a strong masculine voice said above her. "wha" she said as she strained her head to look up at the voice who the boot she was staring at must belong to, finally she managed to see the mans face as she strained and as he bent down, her shock at seeing the mans face completely pushed the wounds out of her mind she pushed herself up onto her knees as she stared at a face that she had only seen a few times and never expected to see again "Hadriax El Felix" she breathed as she stared at Mornhaven's right hand man and her forefather. "That's right, rider" he said as he offered his hand to help her up, she took it without thinking and as he helped her up she could only stare as he said with a grin on his face "bet you didn't expect to see me again heh?"

_Oh yeah for those of you who feel so strongly about not wanting to read it as is then I suggest you copy and paste it into a word document and fix it for yourself and then maybe you could email it to me and I can copy and paste it hmmm? I have more then enough st going on that spending time doing anything other then studying is foolhardy but we only learn by doing foolish things._


	5. Chapter 5

_Aaaaah yes now school has started and it is as expected annoying, as I am sure others are noticing. Anyway let us continue_

_Previously-"Hadriax El Felix" she breathed as she stared at Mornhaven's right hand man and her forefather. "That's right, rider" he said as he offered his hand to help her up, she took it without thinking and as he helped her up she could only stare as he said with a grin on his face "bet you didn't expect to see me again heh?"_

Karigan stared to shocked to respond to his question as she stared at the one person she would never have expected to see ever again. Hadriax just looked at her, the grin on his face disappeared as he continued to look at her waiting for her to say something, finally she managed to collect her thoughts, and couldn't help blurting out the question foremost on her mind "What are you doing here?" as she asked her question the grin that had been on his face momentarily resurfaced as he asked "surprised?" he asked in a sardonic voice. She couldn't help the sarcastic tone in her voice as she replied "not while living" as the words left her lips a though occurred to her and she couldn't help gasping, she quickly glanced at him "I am still alive, right?" he snorted hearing her question "if you weren't then you being here would all be for nothing" he said gesturing at her. She paused taking that in, and then a moment later she asked "why am I here then?" "aaah," he sighed "that is a long story why don't we go inside" he said gesturing behind her, she turned and felt a shock run through her as she stared at the small cottage that was suddenly behind her "wha-" she managed to stammer "I told you this world is what your mind wants it to be, I wanted someplace where we could talk, thus-" he said gesturing at the cottage and shrugging "there are limitations of course, for instance that is how you are able to ignore your wounds, you can not get rid of them because they are part of your physical body, but you are able to block the pain with your mind." as he said this she felt a twinge of pain from her wounds but she closed her eyes and focused for a minute and managed to push them once again out of her mind. She opened her eyes and saw Hadriax holding the door to the cottage open "ladies and living, first" he said sweeping his arm forward and bowing slightly. She stared at him for a moment suddenly unsure, this could be a trap set by who she didn't know, he smiled slightly at her reading her uncertainty "if this was a trap then there would have been no need for me to help you" he pointed out, his face serious, she thought for a minute but she could find nothing wrong with his logic "all right then, I will trust you" she said as she stepped through the door.

Estora watched as Zachary walked away his 4 weapons in formation around him, then she turned as two of the Weapons emerged from her room and told her it was safe to enter, she sighed and nodded to the Weapons as she entered her room. As soon as she stepped into her apartments she felt the composure that she had managed to keep up start to slip "no, you must be strong" she whispered to herself but all she could picture was Karigan lying pale and motionless on the bed barely holding on to life, Weapons telling her it was safe to enter her rooms and despite her attempts, she remembered her kidnapping and the fear that had gripped her as she thought she might be killed. She remembered how a part of her was not afraid of death not because she liked pain but because then she would be able to see F'ryan, as always whenever she thought of F'ryan, guilt flooded her body as she wondered what he would have said and done if she knew she was to be married to the king. She shook her head sadly, he would have likely taken kidnapped her himself, as always thinking of F'ryan brought back the memory of the wrenching pain that she had felt when she found out that he had died. She could not bring herself to curse the day she had found out though, because F'ryan bad always been aware of the danger being a rider was and he still choose to go and that wasn't mentioning the fact that it had brought Karigan to Sacor city. While she would always miss him, she knew that if Karigan hadn't come to Sacor city when she had that Sacordia as she knew it would be nothing but a memory, it would be a land ruled by the evil forces that still conspired to crush Sacordia beneath their heels. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knocking behind her she started as she realized that she had only taken a few steps into the room before she had become lost in her thoughts "yes" she called "it's Beth and Marie, my lady" a lilting voice said outside the door "oh" she paused a moment recomposing herself, she must appear to strong to everyone especially her ladies in waiting, they would relay everything back to her mother and then, of course, the rest of the castle "Come in" she called 'you must be strong like Karigan' she thought to herself as her ladies in waiting entered the room and started preparing it for the night 'she's always in control of herself' for a moment she envied her friend her composure, then she remembered all the experiences that she must have gone through to achieve that composure 'perhaps, Karigan should be queen, she has done more for this country then anyone' she thought to herself, she snorted to herself as she imagined what Karigan would think of that she could practically hear Karigan's voice "are you insane?" she laughed softly to herself, then she remembered Karigan's lifeless form laying on the cot and the laugh died on her lips. Beth who was nearby heard and looked over at her inquiringly, she nodded at her, and submitted to the attentions of her ladies in waiting as they helped her prepare for bed.

_Allright there it is I am sure that some one will be a male offspring of a female persuasion so if it really bugs you that much copy and paste it, fix and resend it to me, action is the only truth. and you make the priestess for alerting me to some spelling issues._


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